Workplace deaths drop - but not in the oil industry

A roughneck stacks pipe on a workover rig while a pumpjack pumps oil from the Brookshire Dome oil field.

A roughneck stacks pipe on a workover rig while a pumpjack pumps...

Sergio Rincon kissed his wife goodbye, stowed his sack lunch inside the cab of his Chevy Avalanche and then returned to the house for one long last embrace before setting off for the oil fields on April 14, 2009.

To continue reading this story, you will need to be a digital subscriber to HoustonChronicle.com.